Gambella

The Oakland Institute has put together a petition to U.S. president Barack Obama and the USAID administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah, asking them to stop their support to the Ethiopian government while the latter engages in exploitative land deals with foreign corporations and governments.

On Monday Human Rights Watch released a major report: ‘Waiting Here for Death’: Forced Displacement and ‘Villagization’ in Ethiopia’s Gambella Region. Villagization basically amounts to rural gentrification, in which vulnerable populations are forcibly relocated, often at gunpoint and never with any consultation, so that the land might become `more productive.’ The story has all the major players: foreign donors, the Ethiopian government, foreign and domestic investors, and rural and indigenous populations.